1. Field of Invention
The present invention, in general, relates to a field of managing data in short range wireless communication network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sharing data between electronic devices in Near Field Communication (NFC) network.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable electronic devices, including but in no way being limited to mobile phones, personal digital assistances (PDAs), set-top boxes, etc. are frequently used for communication. For example, such electronic devices are used for direct communication and communication over a network, such as a telecommunication network. However, the use of portable electronic devices is not limited strictly to communication, as such devices can also be used for sharing data, listening music, watching stored videos, watching active contents/live contents and the like. For example, a user of a mobile phone can watch videos on the mobile phone, listen to songs, and can send short/multimedia messages.
Furthermore, the user can also share and/or send stored data (e.g. video files) to other electronic devices having a bigger display screen, if size of a display screen of the mobile phone is not appropriate for viewing the video. The data can be shared between two electronic devices through a telecommunication network, a short range wireless communication network and the like. For example, a mobile phone can share data file with another electronic device through short range wireless communication, for example, short range radio (Bluetooth®), infrared light (IR) and Near Field Communication (NFC).
For sharing data using Bluetooth® or infrared light (IR), a user has to perform several activities, such as selecting data to be sent, activating a communication technique (for example, activating Bluetooth, or IR), searching for an electronic device in the vicinity of the mobile phone, selecting an electronic device to which the data is to be sent, and then sending the data to the selected electronic device.
However, in Near Field Communication, which is a short-range wireless communication technology, a communication channel is established automatically as soon as two electronic devices are placed close to each other. NFC enables exchange of data between devices within ˜10 centimeter distance. Thus in NFC, manual intervention for sharing data is very minimal. Hence, it is more convenient for users to share data using NFC than Bluetooth or IR.
In light of the above, there is a long-felt need in the art for a method and apparatus for managing and sharing data between electronic devices through NFC.